LilMtnCbn
02-03-2005, 04:59 AM
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/Stories/0,1413,91~3089~2687915,00.html
Brothers, separated 13 years, to be reunited
By LAURA CLARK/The Daily Journal
After 13 years of searching, two brothers who were separated as children found
out Sunday where to find one another.
Some might call it a happy ending to a sad story; others have simply referred
to it as "an act of God." Call it what you will, 15-year-old Josh Calderon now
knows how to contact his 17-year-old brother, Matt Miller, thanks to a night of
babysitting.
"We just learned about him," Calderon's foster father, Gary Cavender, said
Monday, referring to Matt Miller.
Cavender and his wife also have two 12-year-old girls -- Meghan Giumelli and
Rachael Bundeson -- staying with them. The other night the girls were
babysitting for Giumelli's aunt, Shannon Cosman.
Cosman left emergency phone numbers with the neighbors across the street --
Matt's adoptive parents, Trudy and Scott Miller -- just in case. One of the
phone numbers she left was that of the Cavenders.
When the Millers saw the phone number, they noticed it was the same number they
had posted on their refrigerator as a possible contact number for Calderon.
Trudy Miller said she had gotten the phone number where he was staying from a
distant family member of the boys, who was trying to help her and her husband
find Calderon.
"Since early December we were once again searching for him," she said, noting
she knew Calderon was in foster care in Potter Valley, but she didn't put two
and two together.
She said she didn't know the boy living with Cosman's niece was Calderon. When
she noticed the phone numbers matched she questioned Cosman to see if it really
was Calderon they were talking about.
"It was so strange ... It all just kind of fell into place," Cosman said. "I
was standing there ... it was so amazing ... she looks at her husband and tears
burst into her eyes. She looked at him and said, Do you think this is him?'
Then she looked at me and said, I think this boy Joshua might be Matt's
brother,'" Cosman said. "Every hair on my body stood on end and I don't think
it went down the whole night," she added.
Matt Miller is currently away at school in Texas, but his parents met with
Calderon Sunday night and exchanged photos and told Calderon stories about his
older brother.
"Scott (Matt's dad) said that the thing that kept Matt going all these years
was his love for me and that he wanted to find me," Calderon said.
Asked how it felt that he finally has, Josh said, "Great. It was the same way I
felt before my dreams were shattered by my aunt ... she would always tell me I
could find him when I was 18 and not to worry about it," Calderon said, noting
he lived with his aunt for six years, but things didn't work out. "It's
overwhelming," Calderon added.
Of Josh, Cavender said: "He came home (Sunday night) and just fell into my arms
and wept and wept and cried and cried ... he gets to write to his brother ...
he is coming home at Easter -- they get to reunify during Easter break,"
Cavender said.
Calderon has been with the Cavenders for about 14 months.
"Matt (at the age of 4) was basically taking care of Josh when he was 2 years
old, due to the fact that mom had drug problems. ... Apparently she had to give
Matt up for adoption," Cavender said, adding that Matt Miller's adoptive
parents said "Matt used to just weep over his little brother Josh" after they
were separated.
"She couldn't take care of both of us. One, because she just couldn't and one
because she abused drugs," Calderon said of his mother. "She was 17, my dad and
her were split ... it just couldn't happen," he said.
Eventually the teenage Calderon, too, was placed into foster care. "I was all
over the place ... I went from my mom's to my dad's and then to my aunt's
house, and then into foster care last January," Calderon said.
Trudy Miller on Tuesday said she had talked to her son, Matt, and told him the
news.
"Matt is in shock and what I told him was it really makes sense because for the
last 13 years, Matt hasn't known where his brother was ... if he'd see him
again. He is going to write Josh a letter ... I have been crying for the last
48 hours. I am so happy for these two boys who, unbeknownst to either one of
them, have been searching for each other for 13 years. We are just beginning a
new adventure."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Brothers, separated 13 years, to be reunited
By LAURA CLARK/The Daily Journal
After 13 years of searching, two brothers who were separated as children found
out Sunday where to find one another.
Some might call it a happy ending to a sad story; others have simply referred
to it as "an act of God." Call it what you will, 15-year-old Josh Calderon now
knows how to contact his 17-year-old brother, Matt Miller, thanks to a night of
babysitting.
"We just learned about him," Calderon's foster father, Gary Cavender, said
Monday, referring to Matt Miller.
Cavender and his wife also have two 12-year-old girls -- Meghan Giumelli and
Rachael Bundeson -- staying with them. The other night the girls were
babysitting for Giumelli's aunt, Shannon Cosman.
Cosman left emergency phone numbers with the neighbors across the street --
Matt's adoptive parents, Trudy and Scott Miller -- just in case. One of the
phone numbers she left was that of the Cavenders.
When the Millers saw the phone number, they noticed it was the same number they
had posted on their refrigerator as a possible contact number for Calderon.
Trudy Miller said she had gotten the phone number where he was staying from a
distant family member of the boys, who was trying to help her and her husband
find Calderon.
"Since early December we were once again searching for him," she said, noting
she knew Calderon was in foster care in Potter Valley, but she didn't put two
and two together.
She said she didn't know the boy living with Cosman's niece was Calderon. When
she noticed the phone numbers matched she questioned Cosman to see if it really
was Calderon they were talking about.
"It was so strange ... It all just kind of fell into place," Cosman said. "I
was standing there ... it was so amazing ... she looks at her husband and tears
burst into her eyes. She looked at him and said, Do you think this is him?'
Then she looked at me and said, I think this boy Joshua might be Matt's
brother,'" Cosman said. "Every hair on my body stood on end and I don't think
it went down the whole night," she added.
Matt Miller is currently away at school in Texas, but his parents met with
Calderon Sunday night and exchanged photos and told Calderon stories about his
older brother.
"Scott (Matt's dad) said that the thing that kept Matt going all these years
was his love for me and that he wanted to find me," Calderon said.
Asked how it felt that he finally has, Josh said, "Great. It was the same way I
felt before my dreams were shattered by my aunt ... she would always tell me I
could find him when I was 18 and not to worry about it," Calderon said, noting
he lived with his aunt for six years, but things didn't work out. "It's
overwhelming," Calderon added.
Of Josh, Cavender said: "He came home (Sunday night) and just fell into my arms
and wept and wept and cried and cried ... he gets to write to his brother ...
he is coming home at Easter -- they get to reunify during Easter break,"
Cavender said.
Calderon has been with the Cavenders for about 14 months.
"Matt (at the age of 4) was basically taking care of Josh when he was 2 years
old, due to the fact that mom had drug problems. ... Apparently she had to give
Matt up for adoption," Cavender said, adding that Matt Miller's adoptive
parents said "Matt used to just weep over his little brother Josh" after they
were separated.
"She couldn't take care of both of us. One, because she just couldn't and one
because she abused drugs," Calderon said of his mother. "She was 17, my dad and
her were split ... it just couldn't happen," he said.
Eventually the teenage Calderon, too, was placed into foster care. "I was all
over the place ... I went from my mom's to my dad's and then to my aunt's
house, and then into foster care last January," Calderon said.
Trudy Miller on Tuesday said she had talked to her son, Matt, and told him the
news.
"Matt is in shock and what I told him was it really makes sense because for the
last 13 years, Matt hasn't known where his brother was ... if he'd see him
again. He is going to write Josh a letter ... I have been crying for the last
48 hours. I am so happy for these two boys who, unbeknownst to either one of
them, have been searching for each other for 13 years. We are just beginning a
new adventure."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
